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THE

COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA

OF

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

A COPIOUS DICTIONARY

OF

MEMORABLE PERSONS, EVENTS, PLACES, AND THINGS,

WITH

NOTICES OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES AND
NATIONS OF THE KNOWN WORLD,

AND A

CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

BY ED. M. PIERCE.

HARTFORD:

CASE, LOCKWOOD & COMPANY.

CHICAGO:

GLIDDEN & HALE.

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

JUL 1 1914

CHARLES ELLIOTT PERKINS
MEMORIAL COLLECTION

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by

CASE, LOCKWOOD AND COMPANY,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.

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PREFACE.

EVERY reader of a book, a magazine, or a newspaper, is sometimes at loss for a date or fact, and meets with frequent references to historical and biographical subjects which he knows nothing about, or obscurely remembers, or only partially understands. If he has at hand a volume which will readily answer any inquiries that arise in his mind, he will turn to it, and thus remove his ignorance, or clear away the doubt and obscurity that rest upon his understanding. If he has no such work at easy command, he will in most cases let the matter pass, and the need for knowledge goes unsatisfied.

Such extensive works as the Encyclopædia Britannica and the American Cyclopedia are costly, and are therefore in the hands of comparatively few persons; besides, they are too cumbrous for easy and frequent reference. The value of a volume like THE COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, to lie familiarly upon the table or the shelf, ready at call to answer the thousand questions that arise, is too plain to require discussion. It will prove a great convenience even to those who possess ample libraries, and whose minds are stored with historical data. But it is more especially designed for family use, and for the

young.

THE COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA is intended to supply to every general reader such a book of reference as that of which the need has been shown. It is particularly commended to the attention of parents: let them place

it within the reach of their children, and inculcate the habit of consulting it as a dictionary of history and biography, whenever curiosity, doubt, or want of information may suggest. There will be thus laid up a store of precise practical knowledge, incalculable in value.

It is not, however, as a mere book of reference, that this volume is offered to the public. The materials are, it is true, gathered to a great extent from books familiar to the public. The Compiler, however, has culled many traits, anecdotes, and adventures, from less common sources; and interspersing these and other illustrative sketches throughout the pages, he has sought to enliven the work, and thus render it amusing, attractive, and readable. Many of the articles are more extensive than in the voluminous encyclopedias. Interesting topics not found in those are also introduced. The history of our own country will be found fully treated of, under different heads; and at the close of the volume a Chronological View of American History is appended. The present condition of the various countries of the earth is sketched in connection with their history. The lives of eminent political characters in all ages, as well as the lives of those whose greatness in science or literature made their names enduring, are given, some of them at considerable length, and with many characteristic anecdotes. Extended sketches will be found of several royal families; as the houses of Hanover, Plantagenet, Romanoff, Stuart, Tudor, &c. Such topics as Oracles, Druids, El Dorado, Knighthood, Chivalry, Fairies, the Argonauts, the Man in the Iron Mask, Don Carlos, the Gulf Stream, Jesuits, &c., &c., which are frequently alluded to in literature, are treated of with particularity.

The dates of important inventions, discoveries, and improvements in the arts and sciences, and remarkable and interesting facts generally, will be found appropriately arranged. Among such topics may be mentioned the following:-Abdications; Alliances; Amazons; Ambassadors; the Armada; Bachelors; Banks; order of the Bath; Bells; Bible; the vicar of Bray; the Cinque Ports; Coin; the Continental Congress; Conspiracies and Insurrections; the English Constitution; the Constitution of the United States; Councils of the Church; Declaration of Independence, with those passages in the original draught which were

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